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Gluten-free focaccia with rosemary and lemon

Rosemary ain’t just a pretty fragrance. Its medicinal properties – appreciated by herbalists and Granny Joan for hundreds of years – are now being confirmed by modern science. Yes, a daily round of Sudoku (or brushing your teeth with your left hand) helps to keep brain rust at bay. But so too might rosemary.

This woody herb contains several groovy compounds shown to inhibit the nasty breakdown of acetylcholine in the brain. Acetylcholine is a very important neurotransmitter for optimum brain function. Some of the drugs available for Alzheimer’s disease work similarly by interfering with acetylcholine breakdown. Mother N! You clever beast!

 

rosemary and lemon flaxseed focaccia_edited-1

 

A few other racy compounds, caffeic and rosmarinic acid, contribute to rosemary’s health-buffing reputation. These acids, along with vitamin E and assorted flavonoids from the plant, may be helpful in reducing inflammation in the body and the brain (hangover anyone?)

If Sudoku doesn’t tickle your brain cells, this bread should sort you out. Don’t forget flax is nature’s richest source of plant-based omega 3s. Body. Slam.

 

 

Paleo & gluten-free focaccia with rosemary and lemon

What is paleo? It’s a screamingly trendy caveman menu of fruit, nuts, meat, dairy and eggs. Disciples are not so fond of grains or carb-rich foods.

Being a giddy herbivore for 90% of my day, I’m not an acolyte but I appreciate the appeal. Paleo bread recipes have been cantering across restaurants and cookbooks from Dehli to Dunlaoghaire. This one is the best of them all, and freezes exceptionally well.

 

3 teaspoons dried rosemary
240g milled flaxseed / linseed
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 large eggs
185ml regular or plant milk
2 tablespoons black strap molasses

½ unwaxed lemon, juice and zest
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Handful golden sultanas or mulberries
Sea salt flakes, to dust

 
Preheat conventional ovens to 180 degrees, gas mark 4, fan assisted 160. Line an 8×10 (20cm x 25cm) with greaseproof paper. This will look like a focaccia rather than a loaf, that’s why we use something bigger than a bread tin or a brownie tin. Size is really important.

Let 2 teaspoons of the rosemary, the ground flax and your baking powder party in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, molasses, zest and juice of your small lemon and olive oil with a fork until happily glossed up. Parachute your sultanas into the mix. Dried mulberries are also awesome but are dastardly expensive.

Now add the wet ingredients to the dry bowl, and immediately pour into your pre-lined tin. Spread evenly, and sprinkle the remaining rosemary on top with a flurry of sea salt flakes. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and its tin. Allow to cool for 25 minutes on a wire rack. Tickle with smashed avocado, black olive tapenade or hummus. This kale pesto is particularly good smothered over a slice, even 3 days old.

 

p.s. I know some of my terribly clever readers are bound to ask why I use 3 eggs here, and not 4 like the last paleo flaxseed focaccia. Smart question! This recipe requires less hold, becasue it does not have the addition of olives and tomatoes. Ta dahhh!

 

 

 

Bread, Breakfast, x For Freezer x

The Best Paleo Bread Recipe

Omega-3 are to hormones what Dolce is to Gabbana. Indispensable. 

Our bodies cannot make omega-3 itself, so we need to regularly include them in our diet. As always, food sources are preferable to supplements. You’ll find a truckload of omega-3 fatty acids in this bread.

Here’s the vid …

 

 

 

Flaxseeds are also said to be one of nature’s highest sources of cancer-protective plant lignans. These groovy compounds are linked to happy hormones, lower blood cholesterol and giddy antioxidant behaviour. Quite the hat trick for a tiny seed.

If you know someone who is gluten-intolerant, please email them this recipe or cookery vid. They’ll go bonkers for you. It contains no flour or grains, making it perfect for Paleo disciples too. But you don’t have to be a Paleo geek to appreciate this bread – it’s incredibly good for you and seriously tasty.

 

Flaxseed Focaccia Bread with sund dried tomatoes and olive

 

Sun Dried Tomato & Olive Focaccia – a paleo bread

This recipe is from my first cookbook, The Extra Virgin Kitchen (erm, my second cookbook is almost here, talk about a publicity whore!) 

Next week, I’ll be posting the rosemary and lemon version we make at demos and talks. We’re also toying around with a beer and seaweed version too. Stay tuned.

 

2 cups milled flaxseed / linseed (approximately 220g)

3 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 eggs

½ cup regular or plant milk (125ml)

2 tablespoons of black strap molasses or honey, warmed until runny

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive or macadamia oil (60ml)

Handful of black olives, stones removed

10-12 small sun-dried or sun-blushed tomatoes 

 

Preheat conventional ovens to 180 degrees, gas mark 4, fan assisted 160. Lightly oil a small baking tray, a few inches smaller in height than an A4 page. a 10×8 inch is poifect (but an 8×8 square brownie tin will also do. Just leave some mixture behind in the bowl).

Combine the ground flax, oregano and baking powder together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, molasses and oil until thoroughly united. I prefer to use black strap molasses instead of honey for three reasons. Firstly, it gives the best baking results. Secondly, it’s super rich in iron and B vitamins for energy. And thirdly, it’s much cheaper.

Chop up the olives and sun-dried tomatoes, adding them to the wet ingredients. Now add wet to dry, and immediately pour into your pre-greased baking tray. Spread evenly, and sprinkle a little more dried oregano on top if you fancy. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and its tin. Allow to cool for 25 minutes on a wire rack. Tickle with black olive tapenade, some super-garlicky hummus, or serve alongside your favourite bowl of soup. This bread freezes exceptionally well, ready to grill when there’s nothing in the cupboard. Nifty, huh?

 

 

 

 

Treats & Snacks, Videos, x For Freezer x

PMT Brownies

It’s back #chiamania

Here’s one to service hormones and hismones.

 

 

 

Can’t find milled chia in a store near you?

No problem. A coffee grinder will mill whole chia seeds for you. We get our stash of milled chia online here, or nab packets of these in our local health store.

You can also just replace the first 3 ingredients below with 1 extra egg y’all.

 

160ml almond or other milk
3 tablespoons milled chia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

200g block of creamed coconut
200g 70-85% dark choc
200g coconut sugar
3 eggs
100g ground almonds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
30g chocolate chunks (optional)

 

Make the omega-3 potion by soaking the milled chia in the plant-based milk and vanilla. Magic.

Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate and creamed coconut in a bain-marie. This is a just a shallow bowl covering a pan of simmering water (1/2 inch in depth). The steam rising from the water will gently melt the content of the bowl, so long as the bowl never touches the water.

With an electric whisk (or tenacity), whip the coconut sugar with the eggs to introduce loads of air.

Tumble in remaining ingredients, and stir briefly.

Time to parachute in the glossy ganache – every last drop.

Finally, the gooey chia mix. In it goes.

Scoop into a 8×12 lined tin and bake at 180 Celsius for 30 minutes maximum. If you only have an 8×8 square brownie tin, leave it in 8 minutes longer, but don’t use the entire batter. A little of the mixture needs to be sacrificed for an 8×8 to work.

Leave to cool at room temp for an hour, and chill until dastardly delicious.

 

Taking the hell out of healthy.

Hit “BOOM” at the top left corner, with your email address my friend, to receive a new weekly recipe direct to your inbox.

 

brownies PMT

A special announcement

Join me on Substack

Howdy! I’ll be deleting this website shortly. Gah! But please stay in touch – I so appreciate your loyalty and lovebombs.

You can continue to access my recipe drops over on Substack.  Hope to see you there, and to continue frolicking on this veggie-fueled dance floor.